“Show me the money,” were among the first words out of the former Bellator lightweight champ’s mouth as he avenged a previous loss to Shinya Aoki with a first-round knockout at Bellator 66, which took place Friday at I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

The headliner managed to distract from a near-brawl between season-six middleweight finalists Andreas Spang and Maiquel Falcao.

Bellator 66’s main card aired live on MTV2 while preliminary-card action streamed on Spike.com.

The pressure weighing on Alvarez after losing his belt this past November to Michael Chandler – and at the tail end of his contract – seemed to have no effect on his performance. As expected, Aoki dove at his legs in an attempt to reproduce the submission that forced him to cry uncle four years ago in Japan under the DREAM banner. But he rejected that attempt, walking to the other corner of the cage, and waited for the right moment to strike.

Pawing out with faux-strikes, he prompted Aoki to take a risk with an uncharacteristic elbow strike out of the blue. In response, he uncorked an uppercut that dropped the submission specialist. Aoki seemed confused and unprepared for a lunging overhead punch that caught him on the temple and prompted a swarm of punches from Alvarez that forced referee intervention at the 2:14 mark of the first.

In reality, though, Aoki’s corner had thrown in the towel several beats before the official wave-off.

With a big bargaining chip hanging around his neck, Alvarez implored his boss to come over the top of a perhaps inevitable offer from the UFC, which has long hovered as an option for the popular fighter. Rebney had previously told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he was pulling for the first Bellator champ, but would be firm in making him fight through a tournament to get a rematch with Chandler.

All demands aside, however, Alvarez (23-3 MMA, 8-1 BFC) had a lot to be thankful for.

“I was in a bad spot in the last couple of months,” he said. “I left my home for the first time to prepare for this fight, and it was heart-wrenching for me. But I’m going to be able to go home with a check for my kids and my wife tonight, so I’m happy.”

Andreas Spang has certainly made his presence known in Bellator, and not entirely for the right reasons.

The short-notice replacement came back from the brink of unconsciousness to knock out Brian Rogers at the 3:34 mark of the second round of the middleweight semifinal fight.

But the goodwill earned from the amazing finish was completely forgotten when he shoved Maiquel Falcao during a perfunctory square-off between tournament finalists. The two nearly brawled in the cage before officials, including Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith, were able to calm things down.

In addition to a trip to the finals, Spang could now face disciplinary action from the Ohio Athletic Commission, who oversaw Friday’s event. It was the second time he got physical with an opponent outside the bounds of competition; he shoved Rogers at the weigh-ins the day prior.

That confrontation was forgotten when the two earned each other’s respect in the first round of the sanctioned fight. Rogers landed a huge punch and would have decapitated Spang had he not missed a high kick. Seizing opportunity, Spang lept on Rogers’ back and nearly sunk in a rear naked choke. When Rogers escaped, the two air-tapped gloves.

Then Rogers went back to battering Spang with huge, swinging punches to the head and body. After a particularly nasty flurry in the second frame, Spang wobbled dazedly as he looked for the finishing blow. But when he did that, he left himself exposed to the counter. As he wound up, Spang snuck in a left hook that connected flush and sent him stiff to the mat.

A subsequent hammerfist had the referee diving in to protect the downed fighter.

“He caught me with some really hard shots,” Spang said as boos rained on the cage. “I love you guys. You guys were booing me when I came out; you called me a bunch of names. I’m sorry for my antics after the fight. I love to fight, I’m here to win. I’m just doing my job.”

Then Spang (8-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who with the knockout boosted his current win streak to three, failed to differentiate between work and promotion.

Rogers (9-4 MMA, 2-2 BFC) sees a second tournament go south after falling short in the semifinals of the season-five competition.

Falcao pushed to the limit by Vasilevsky

Maiquel Falcao earned a unanimous decision (29-28 on three scorecards) over Vyacheslav Vasilevsky to earn a ticket to the middleweight tournament finals.

But the Brazilian was pushed to his limit. Former M-1 champ Vasilevsky opened a lead in the first half of the semifinal fight with superior grappling and deft boxing technique, and Falcao had to fight his way back.

The UFC vet managed to do that in the latter half of the second frame when he managed to reverse a takedown attempt (aided by a fence grab). Vasilevsky was unable to free himself as Falcao pounded away with thunderous shots from top position.

After a largely ineffective striking attack of big punches in the first round, Falcao found his range in the third round with a right hand that badly hurt Vasilevsky. Knees in the clinch did further damage, and for a brief moment the Russian teetered at the abyss. But he escaped and took Falcao to the ground.

It seemed to be anyone’s fight when Falcao escaped mount position and attempted to seal victory with more ground and pound. But Vasilevsky got back up and bowled him over in the final moments of the fight.

The final sequence did not sway the judges, who awarded Falcao (30-4 MMA, 2-0 BFC) the decision. The Brazilian is now 3-1 since his released from the UFC this past year.

“I don’t want to say too much; I just want to wait for the finals,” he said afterward.

Vasilevsky (16-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC) suffers his first loss in 15 fights and nearly four years of competition.

After frustrating “Cupcake” in the first round with a wall-and-stall attack, Hawn planted his feet and landed a right hand that dropped his aggressive foe 10 seconds into the second round.

“We had a gameplan for this guy,” Hawn said afterward. “We knew he was going to come out strong, and you can’t get sucked into that. You’ve got to play a smart fight, a chess match, and that’s what I did.”

Woodard certainly tried to convince Hawn otherwise. After a couple of stints against the cage, he goaded the Olympic judoka to trade punches with him. Instead, Hawn stuffed him against the cage and kneed the legs.

A subsequent charge from Woodard made it easy for Hawn to sweep him to the mat, though he couldn’t do much with top position. Woodard couldn’t either when he repaid the sweep.

Woodard was charging forward to throw a knee when Hawn threw the right hand. He immediately protested the stoppage, but his legs betrayed him from the moment he rose.

“Like I said in interviews, something would open up, and there it was,” Hawn said of his right hand.”

It’s the second time Hawn (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BFC) has advanced to the finals of a Bellator tournament after his bid to win the season-four welterweight tournament ended in a decision loss to Jay Hieron. As a lightweight, his early status as favorite appears well-justified.

The freewheeling Woodard (12-2 MMA, 2-2 BFC) goes back to the drawing board after an upset over favorite Patricky Freire in the opening round of the season-six competition.

Weedman squeezes by Michel for first finals bid

In the first lightweight tourney quarterfinal, Brent Weedman’s grappling earned him enough points to top a late-fight rally from Thiago Michel.

Two judges gave the father-to-be scores of 29-28 while one gave the same score to Michel.

“I want my son to meet me the way I am,” Weedman said afterward as his pregnant wife looked on cageside. “I thought it was a close fight. I could see me winning the first two rounds, maybe. In the third, I could see it going either way.”

Takedowns likely informed that call. Evenly matched with Michel on the feet, Weedman ended the first and second rounds in top position. Although unable to submit the Brazilian, he landed knees from side control and fended off a submission attempt in the second round.

Michel picked up the pace in the third round with Weedman’s right eye swollen almost completely closed from an earlier strike. In response, Weedman again took the fight to the ground but couldn’t keep the fight there. A spinning back kick from Michel wouldn’t deter his advance, but a bevy of kicks had Weedman gunning to take the fight down at the bell.

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